Lavender Magazine

Volume 7, Issue 171 • December 14, 2001 through December 27, 2001

Vikings Without Footballs: Outwoods

If you're the breed of bear who refuses to spend your winters hibernating, you might want to look into Outwoods. According to its Web site, Outwoods is "an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to providing quality, non-competitive, outdoor, recreational activities by and for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, and their friends in the Twin Cities and in, or adjacent to, Minnesota."

Jody Martin, Outwoods's acting chairperson, says, "Outwoods is a volunteer organization that exists today because of the many people interested in leading trips and [because of] the many enthusiastic people wanting to participate."

Examples of past trips include phenology walks ("phenology" being Latin for "the study of multiseasonal blisters"), winter camping, and bird watching at aptly named Hawk Ridge. Events which loom in the future include cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, ice skating, and snowshoeing.

The thread that ties these diverse events together is exploration. Not unlike certain Runestone-bequeathing explorers of a much earlier era, participants in Outwoods trips start with exploring the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Move over, Leif Eriksson!

"We have events which include kayaking on Lake Superior, ski trips on the North Shore, backpacking on the Superior hiking trail, and camping trips in the prairies of Southern Minnesota," Martin explains. "Many of our trips tend to be in the Midwest."

Not only do members of Outwoods explore creation, they explore other people through good, old-fashioned friendship.

"There is something about the bond that is created in nature that strengthens relationships," one aspiring druid posted on the Outwoods Web site. "I know of many that met their partners through Outwoods, as well as making lifelong friends, as I have."

Martin adds, "I have seen many friendships created by people who met at Outwoods."

Perhaps the most important exploration is that which occurs within, as members develop wholly optional leadership skills. Leadership in Outwoods is what you might call situational.

According to the Web site, "There is no person or committee that plans activities; trips happen when individuals submit their listings to the newsletter." A very gay way of doing things, indeed!

Aspiring Cecil B. DeMille/Grizzly Adams amalgams need to fill out an Event Submission, also available on the oft-cited Web site. Information to be submitted includes the event title, description, and the never-to-be- underestimated-in- Minnesota weather considerations. "Hypothetically, an event could be canceled for a reason like the weather," Micah Puls, Outwoods Board Treasurer, suggests, "but we usually still get together and make something of it."

Meanwhile, our Web site druid friend assures us, "Being an Event Leader is not hard because you are just sharing an activity you enjoy with others." That said, organizational ability, communication skills, and self-motivation are developed in Event Leaders.

If you're interested in joining Outwoods, you can request a free sample newsletter by visiting the Web site, or by calling the 24-hour recorded hotline. Full membership is $15 per individual. Benefits include a yearlong subscription to the newsletter.

And, speaking of the season, remember that Outwoods is a year-round exercise in exploration.

"Within a year," Martin notes, "you can see many different events, from bike rides, roller-blading, hikes, and cross-country ski events that last a few hours to long weekend trips that involve any number of these activities, and more."

"If you like to do anything outdoors, but are afraid of not knowing anyone at an event, don't be," Puls advises. "After a matter of minutes, you'll have new friends with whom you can share the beauty that surrounds us all here in the Midwest."

And this is what Outwoods is really about--exploring the Earth, exploring friendship, and exploring yourself. It's a natural fit, really. No member of the GLBT community has gone through this life without some serious self-exploration...just as ol' Leif E. must have had an epiphany or two, floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with a group whose members consisted entirely of helmeted hairy guys and hypothetical sea serpents.

While Outwoods currently has no members who are sea serpents--although we're assured that GLBT sea serpents and their friends are very welcome--you well might come across a helmeted hairy guy or two. And, as one member put it, "Outwoods is only as strong as those that take an active part in keeping the organization going."

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